Attack attempt by vested interest to derail peace process: Mirwa

New Delhi, Feb 1 (UNI) Terming the grenade attack on the Hurriyat Conference headquarters in Srinagar an ''attempt by vested interest to derail the peace process, amalgam chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq today said the conglomerate will continue to work towards resolution of the Kashmir issue.

''We will continue on our track of talks and negotiations.

We will continue to work for restoration of peace in the state and nothing will deter us,'' the Mirwaiz told UNI before his departure for Srinagar.

Unidentified persons lobbed a hand grenade toward the Hurriyat headquarters in Srinagar's posh Raj Bagh area at around 2220 hrs last night.

Without naming anyone, the Mirwaiz, who recently returned from a ten-day Pakistan visit, said people against peace were responsible for the attack.

''Some frustrated and vested interests who don't want the resolution of the issue are responsible for the attack. They want to create fear psychosis but they will not succeed,'' he added.

''The people of Jammu and Kashmir want peace and we will work towards that,'' he added.

A three-member moderate Hurriyat delegation had left here for Pakistan on January 17 for talks with President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz besides opposition and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) leaders on the Kashmir issue.

Militants belonging to the Save Kashmir Movement (SKM) had earlier fired a rifle grenade at the residence of the Mirwaiz at Nigeen on January 15, which fell in the compound of a nearby house.

During the visit, the Mirwaiz Farooq had called for giving up the ''armed struggle'' to pave the way for fruitful negotiations for a lasting settlement of the Kashmir issue.

Reacting sharply to the Mirwaiz's call, the SKM threatened that any voice raised against ''freedom fighters and the armed struggle'' would be ''muzzled with extreme force''.

UNI